Welcome to the Dungeon!

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/The next day…/

'Inside the Dungeon, Silver could be seen leading a group of 6 people, all girls of course, true to his reputation as a playboy.'

'He stopped after walking for a while, and seeing they were now alone, he said:'

"Alright everyone, welcome to the first floor… Keep your eyes open and your guard up." He said towards the people behind him

'The group consisted of three 3 human girls, one elf, and two beast humans, one of which was Nicc.'

'One of the three Human girls was an older girl with blond hair, looking like an experienced adventurer thanks to her confident posture and the long sword hanging in her waist.'

'She also wore medium armor, looking like a knight.'

'She was stuck on her Level for 3 years, and this was the reason why she left her previous Familia, she had enough of being ridiculed by her old party members and decided to try her luck with this Familia.'

'A decision she hasn't regretted so far.'

'The Elf was also Level 1 and about the same age as the other girl, she was 21 years old, had long red hair, and held a lance in her hands.'

'She joined the Hestia Familia after leaving her previous one due to internal conflicts.'

'The other two Human girls were an archer and a mage with a cute long hat.'

'And lastly, the beast girl had a large shield in her hand.'

'Like this, there were 2 offensive warriors, the 2 Level 1s, and more experienced adventurers. One tank, and two backline adventurers, one mage and one archer.'

'And lastly, Nicc who was currently working as a supporter.'

"Leave it to us Captain, we'll teach them in no time." Said the Elf with a smile

"I know, but I couldn't help but come…"

Besides… I'll have them experience the true horrors of the Dungeon.

"I'll be following you all from far away, but do not expect me to intervene, your objective is to go to the 4th floor and come back within 2 hours." He said as his body slowly vanished

"2-2 hours?!" Exclaimed the blond Human girl

It would've been easy with my previous party but…

'She took a deep breath and looked at the Elf, the two nodded and immediately started giving orders to the nervous girls behind them, trying to get them to calm down and get into formation, one they trained several times back in the Manor.'

'The only one who wasn't nervous was Nicc, and that was something Silver didn't like to see because Nicc wasn't confident due to trusting her allies, but she was confident because Silver was nearby.'

'Her past experience of being led around by him was now affecting her performance in the Dungeon, and Silver would make sure to fix that…'

…

/1 hour and a bit more later.../

'In the following hours, the group successfully defeated the monsters on their path.'

'Goblins, Kobolds, and Dungeon lizards. These were the monsters of the Upper floors.'

'They even met with a few other groups, but no problem arose from their encounters.'

'Silver felt it was a shame, fighting between adventurers was common, and Silver wanted them to experience it at least once... And if that were to happen, at least had it happen under his supervision...'

'So he could beat the crap out of anyone that dared mess with them.'

'And as they slowly approached their objective, Silver prepared his next plan…'

…

/Somewhere on the 4th floor…/

"6… 7… 9 should be enough." He said with a smile as he used telekinesis to bind another Goblin by the neck

"Kiii..." Sadi the Goblin in a weak tone

"An adventurer only grows in adversity…" He mumbled to himself as he flew towards the pathway to the pathway leading to the upper floors with several goblins being dragged behind him

…

"If you stopped, this means we arrived?" Asked the red haired Elf

"Yup, that cave over there is the entrance to the 5th floor. We have about 40 minutes left, if we turn back now we should be able to return in time." Replied Nicc as she took out a map from her backpack

'Everyone nodded, turning around to leave when…'

"PREPARE TO FIGHT!" Exclaimed the blond haired girl as she took her sword from her waist

"What?..." Asked the wizard of the group

"Hiva! Focus and start chanting! Sarina, draw your arrows!" Exclaimed the blonde girl

'It was too sudden and they didn't have time to prepare, before they realized it, a group of 7 Goblins rushed into the cavern they were currently in.'

'The red haired Elf and the blond swordswoman blocked a few of them, but the last one rushed past them and into the rear.'

"DAMMIT! FOCUS!" Cried the swordswoman towards her companions

These aren't your ordinary Goblins! They are as strong as the ones in the lower floors!

/CLANG!/

'But her attention was forced back to the 3 monsters in front of her.'

'It seemed as if time had stopped at that point. The Goblin was rushing with a large knife in its hands, ready to swing it down on the beast girl.'

'Without a command, she didn't know what to, but her instincts made her raise her shield…'

/CLANG!/

'Metal clashed against metal, forcing the beast girl back and tumbling into the ground…'

'But her job was done!'

/Fwoosh!/

"KII!" Exclaimed the Goblin as an arrow punctured its leg

"I missed!" Said Sarina as looked at the goblin in confusion

I was aiming at its head!

"Just don't stay there and pull another arrow!" Said Nicc in a loud tone as she took out a knife from her waist

"Hiva! Stop thinking and start chanting!"

'And as the two girls recovered from their confusion, she rushed forward to rescue the fallen girl.'

"Get away from her!"

/Splat!/

'Nicc swung her knife, slashing at the Goblin's arm, making it roll backwards in pain.'

…

"Hum…"

'All of this was seen by Silver who was invisible, watching everything unfold.'

I knew it, 9 was a bit too much, and 7 was just the perfect amount. If I had sent more perhaps...

To create a dangerous situation where they are pressured so they can improve.

It doesn't matter if it's artificial, as long as they don't know that, it's the perfect fuel for growth.

The two warriors are fighting for their lives and for their companions, so they are putting everything they have on the line to defeat those Goblins as fast as they can.

While the 4 girls in the back are struggling to adapt to such an unpredictable situation, but thankfully Nicc is already half used to dealing with monsters in the Dungeon thanks to some of our adventures…

Perhaps I should have her participate in every expedition during this week…

"Goblins aren't really that big of a deal, even if it's a stronger version of one."

Clumsy, weak, and fearful by nature...

But of course, a Dungeon monster is a Dungeon monster, they are as strong as Human adults, as shown when that Goblin knocked the girl to the ground with its strike, but their skin isn't thick enough to block a sharp blade, nor are they skillful enough to avoid it.

Unless you are a moron or unskilled…

'From there on, the result was clear, Nicc helped the beast girl get up, and the two, together with the archer, defeated it.'

'The wizard finally managed to complete her spell, and suddenly, a stone spike launched from the Dungeon walls and pierced the head of one of the goblins and another goblin's chest, pinning them on the ground.'

'The spell looked strong, but it was the best she could do, she poured in everything she had and collapsed on the ground due to Mind Zero.'

'But that was enough for the other two fighting on the frontlines, since within 3 minutes, all of the remaining Goblins were killed!'

…

'After defeating the goblins, the girls went to the entrance of the 5th floor and rested.'

'Monsters rarely move from one floor to another unless in an extreme situation, nor do monsters appear on those stairs, so it's a pretty safe place to rest for short periods of time.'

"Th-That was tense…" Said Nicc as she looked around

Where is that guy when you need him? I am sure he is watching us!

Why didn't he make a move?!

"This is why you need to keep your guard up no matter where you are." Said the blond girl

"Yes, those Goblins were pretty strong, as strong as the ones we meet on the 8th and 9th floors…" Replied the red haired Elf

"How did they appear here on the 4th floor?" Asked Sarina

"Perhaps we are looking at it the wrong way, what if a group forgot to clean up after defeating a large crowd and these Goblins are the result of that? You know that monsters get stronger from eating magic stones right?" Asked Nicc to the girls

/Step step step…/

'But it seemed that fate had more plans for these girls…'

"Don't tell me…" Said the blonde girl as she looked behind her

"!!"

'At the bottom of the stairs, a red creature could be seen slowly moving upwards…'

"DAMMIT! KILLER ANTS! EVERYONE MOVE! GRAB HIVA AND STAY BACK!" Exclaimed the Elf

One is simple enough to deal with…

"Oh no…"

'One killer ant turned to 2 and 2 turned into 8…'

'In the blink of an eye, a big group of killer ants appeared…'

"RUN!" She said as she turned around and grabbed Hiva

…

"... Rule number 1 in the Dungeon, things can and will always get worse, so move your ass before it's too late." Said Silver as he released yet another Killer ant onto the tunnel, watching the girls flee from them

"How will you deal with this now?" He mumbled to himself as he vanished once more

…

"Over here! If we take this path, we can arrive at the path to the 3rd floor within a minute!" Said Nicc as she glanced at the map

/THUD!/

'But of course, things wouldn't be so simple. During their run, one of them suddenly fell due to not paying enough attention, it was the archer girl…'

'As she fell, she remembered Silver words in the training camp, why they ran so much, why they trained so much… Wasn't it for now?!'

'She quickly got up and despite the pain on her ankle and the fear in her heart, she continued to run behind the others… Grasping dear to her life.'

"Hold on Sarina! We're almost there!" Said Nicc as she continued to run

The problem is when we arrive there! What do we do?!

In the first place, why are there killer ants here?! And where is that guy?!

Wasn't he supposed to protect us in this circumstance…

'But Nicc remembered his words, he wouldn't intervene, and doing so meant that…'

'She would've died if he wasn't here…'

'Gritting her teeth and cursing Silver, she slowed down and grabbed onto Sarina, helping her run faster…'

…

"Dammit! They are still after us…" Said Sarina as she breathed heavily

"There is no point in running anymore, we are fighting them here!" Said the blond girl as she took a step forward

"Everyone, get in formation! Nicc, you protect Hiva, Fiolla, you'll have to work with us and make sure no one passes!"

"I will offer support!" Said Sarina as she sat on the stairs and drew her bow

'They all drew their weapons, ready to face off against the monsters…'

…

"This is why having these Level 1 adventurers spread out amongst the groups was a good idea." Said Silver as he watched everything from afar

A newbie would never think of all of this, and if it wasn't for them, they would've probably lost one already.

"I am a bit surprised they decided to fight back… Lets see, there are about 7 killer ants, they should be able to handle this…"

The Killer ant's main problem is its resistance due to its exoskeleton.

It goes like this, the newbie adventurer goes for a strike->It proves to be ineffective->Gets confused for an instant->The Killer ant snaps its jaws at him->Game over.

One single Killer ant isn't really that big of a deal if you have a team of 2 or more people, since as an Ant, they are pretty immobile, being pretty weak at moving to the sides.

But they can climb the walls and ceiling, but that is pretty rare for them to do, however, from the 7th floor onwards, checking the ceiling becomes a habit for every adventurer.

"Two experienced adventurers and 4 newbies, one of which is unconscious and the other one is strong but has no combat experience, the other two are just extras with 0 experience."

How are they going to perform?

…

/CLANG!/

/FUWSH!/

/CLACK!/

'The two girls worked together and successfully blocked the first rush of the ants.'

'Thanks to the narrow cave, no more than two ants could enter at the same time, and even that was a bit much as they hit each other every once in a while.'

'Nicc fed a potion to Hiva, although she had yet to wake up, if things continued like this, she would eventually wake up.'

'Sarine tried to snipe the ants on the back, but their though shells proved hard to penetrate, she had to be very precise to hit their weak spots and that proved to be difficult when these creatures kept moving around.'

'But at least, she tried her best to impede the ants from climbing on the walls, her heart was on her mouth due to fear, but she kept pulling her arrows...'

'Fiolla bonked the ants with her shield, breaking their legs with it in an attempt to help the others…'

'Somehow, they were doing it!'

…

/FWUSH!/

/Poof! Cling…/

'And with a precise arrow to the neck of one of the ants, the final ant had been killed and their crisis had been averted.'

'But before everyone could collapse on the ground, the blond girl said:'

"Let's not commit the same mistake and be ambushed again, let's leave while we can."

"I… I can't feel my hands anymore though…" Said Sarina as she looked at her red hands, they weren't bloody or hurt, they were red from irritation from pulling the string so many times without rest

"... 5 minutes, that is the maximum I can give everyone. After that, we leave!"

"Yes!" They replied in unison

'It seemed the leader of this squad had already been chosen…'

…

'Despite everything that happened, no more monsters appeared, which was odd but they didn't complain…'

"We did it!" Exclaimed Fiolla as she climbed the stairs to the surface, making the other adventurers look at her with pity

'Just by looking at their condition, it was clear they had passed through a minor disaster, so no one made fun of them.'

'But the gazes of the people around them, made her embarrassed as she shut up.'

"Still… We failed the mission…" Said the wizard girl

"I want to hear what he has to say when we come back! Why didn't he help?!" Asked Nicc in anger

'But the red haired Elf intervened, saiying:'

"The Captain said he wouldn't intervene, remember, after this week, there won't be a Captain anymore to help us, so we need to stay focused."

'Even her had already noticed that something was wrong. First it were the stronger Goblins, and after that were the Killer ants, if they were close it would've been more believable, but they were on the 4th floor…'

'So she had already started to think this had something to do with him… And she was ready to ask him about it.'

…

'When they got up, they exchanged the magic stones for money, it was quite a considerable amount. 15K Vallis for 2 hours of work, quite a sum for Level 1 adventurers.'

(Remember that a party of 5 experienced Level 1 adventurers can make around 25K Valis a day)

'But seeing such money only brought them momentary respite and it was still not enough to make them feel much better.'

'None of them got excessively hurt apart from the two frontline warriors who were filled with cuts and bruises, but the mental impact was still big.'

'Such is the feeling of staring at death…'

…

'The girls made their way to the plaza near Babel, where they were welcomed by Silver who was standing next to a big water fountain with his arms opened.'

"Welcome ba… WOW! You almost kicked my nut…" Said Silver as he evaded Nicc's kick

"Yeah I did! What was this about?!"

"... I told you all that I wouldn't interfere…" Said Silver as he looked at the girls

'And before Nicc could reply, Silver's hands shone in a gentle light, healing all of their injuries and fatigue.'

"Being an adventurer isn't easy, you will bleed if you don't pay attention. All of this was a result of you all being out of coordination."

"But… It was an explendid job for a group of beginners…"

"Before we go, I have a question." Said the blond girl

'She looked serious, perhaps even a bit... Disappointed?'

"Yes?"

"Do you know why there were so many lower floor monsters..."

'But before she could continue, she was interrupted by the Elf.'

"I can reply to your question. That was something I asked of Captain."

"WHAT?!" Said everyone in unison

"... The best way for an adventurer to grow is by experiencing danger, so I asked him to simulate one such dangerous situation…"

"I didn't know how or what he would do, but I immediately realized it when the Goblins ambushed us." She said as she looked at Silver, who looked away with a thin smile

"At that time, all of our group's problems were made clear… Our week coordination, and your lack of experience."

"The best way to improve is to first realize what the problems are, and this was what I wanted... Although... I never asked for it to be done like this..."

'Everyone looked at Silver who was now walking away with his back turned to them.'

"Come back here and answer for your sins!" Said Nicc as she ran after him

Dammit! I almost pissed myself back there!

'Unfortunately for her, every time she came closer to him, Silver would start running faster, and in no time, she got tired.'

'Smiling cheekily, Silver led them back to the Hearth Manor.'

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